Manari Ushigua, the leader of the Sápara nation, sat in a ring with a group of Americans who were visiting his community in the Ecuadorean rainforest. He was interpreting their […]

Two hours after the sun has set and most of the Sápara are settling in for the night, Hilario Gualinga is still at work in a kitchen two miles from […]

Walking through the rainforest that covers their territory in eastern Ecuador, most adult members of the indigenous Sápara nation could collect tree oil that clears skin, bark to relieve muscle […]

To comply with government educational regulations, every Ecuadorean teacher must input grades into the Ministry of Education’s online records twice a year. For Rosario Ishauna Ushigua Santi, a teacher in […]

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. Whether the nearest voting station is down the block or a days-long trek through the jungle, the government doesn’t care. Only the vote matters, and […]

By Giovanni Ortiz   Ipiak Montaguano, an 11-year-old Sápara girl, stood in the back of the classroom. She was smiling, teeth showing, as she sang the Ecuadorean national anthem in […]

By Pablo Calvi and Barbara Selvin In 2017, Journalism Without Walls took its first trip to South America. Five students and two professors spent two weeks in Ecuador, focusing on […]